Week 4
Hi, here’s your weekly spoiler post with the preview cards that were shown to us by various content creators. Enjoy!
Sources
Salvage was previewed by Obscure Studies on their website
One in the Chamber was previewed by Tengo Un Plan on Twitch
Sin-Eater was previewed by Drawn To The Flame on their podcast
Alchemical Distillation was previewed by Optimal Play on Youtube
Guardian
One in the Chamber
There’s just a bit too many restrictions on this one for me to really enjoy it much. So you can only play it when you spend your last ammo and it only makes sense if you still have another action left and only if you actually want to spend that action for another attack. If the last two aren’t true all you get is a single ammo for a resource and a card, which doesn’t strike me as a particularly good deal. That being said, there is one type of card where this could see play and that’s all the weapons that want to oversucceed for effects because then you can start to get some real value out of that +3 skill value. Shotguns (of which we have a few now) come to mind, as do a couple of Rogue weapons like the big Beretta. Rogues who can take Guardian events are therefore who i think would want this the most: Tony and Skids. Maybe Jenny.
I can see myself using One in the Chamber in some level zero decks but would probably look to upgrade it to Extra Ammunition or Swift Reload rather soon. The only exception i see is when trying to get the most out of one of the two 5XP shotguns. I might keep the card in the deck for good then. Overall this one doesn’t excite me much, though.
Seeker
Alchemical Distillation
Ah and here i was afraid that we wouldn’t get a Customizable card this week. Distillation looks a little less exciting than previous offers like the Axe, the Multitool or the Thieves’ Kit. But i actually think that’s a bit deceiving, this card has a lot of potential. However, to get to it, you are going to need to invest a bit. Using it costs an action and a supply, so you will want to make sure that you get the most out of each activation, making either the Empowered or Perfected upgrade a must-have in my opinion. But once you do have that, you start getting some real value. Even without further upgrades besides Perfected, spending an action to gain 2 resources and 2 cards is quite good and any of the additional options can increase the potential even more. I am especially eyeing the “move 2 times” option that would be valuable indeed. A huge part of Distillation’s power comes from being able to be used on other players. As a Seeker, drawing an extra card here or there isn’t a huge problem usually. But being able to take the Empowered upgrade and throwing 3 cards towards your Guardian is looking very good.
It’s a bit of a pity that the card is gated by an intellect test. That test is probably there to provide a way of making sure you can’t easily take both Empowered and Perfected at the same time, but it does end up limiting the card severely. Especially having to spend the supply even when the test fails is going to sting quite a bit.
Still, passing an Intellect(3) test is not going to be a huge hurdle for Seekers, so this will work out more often than not. Since you are sort of locked into putting at least 4 or 5XP into this card, this card is going to have to measure up against the Seeker mini-quest (or “Researched”) cards like Strange Solution or Ancient Stone. Depending on what you are looking for, i do think it is competitive, though. Especially if you want to use your Seeker for more than just finding clues and go for a more support oriented role, Alchemical Distillation can fill that role handily. Since you can add two of these to your deck for your XP, it also isn’t as expensive as most of the Researched cards.
Mystic
Sin-Eater
That is ridiculous. Being able to siphon the doom off of your cards and even get something good in return is one hell of a powerful ability. You are going to need to spend an action here and there to dump the doom from the game, but that’s perfectly fine. Combined with last week’s Elle Rubash who can mask up to two doom from counting towards the agenda threshold, this allows Amina to really use her ability a whole lot while making cards like Abyssal Tome or De Vermis Mysteriis a lot less risky than otherwise. Sin-Eater can even ready those assets for you so you can get even more out of them. And it’s a Permanent, too. So not only do you not find and play it first, but it also can’t be discarded by an untimely treachery.
This is a huge enabler card and 6XP is a small cost to pay for it. It’s a literal gamechanger of a card that gives the Mystic class a whole new angle to explore besides that played-out “Use Willpower to X” thing. Very exciting.
Survivor
Salvage
I like this one a lot. Not only is it Chance Encounter(2) for Items, but it’s also a really potent economy card. To get the obvious part out of the way first, you will get good value out of it if you have Short Supply in your deck and at least a couple items. And which Survivor doesn’t have Short Supply these days? You’ll probably have more decks that don’t run enough items than deck without Short Supply because it’s just that good. Unlike other survivor cards that reach into the discard, this one isn’t restricted to level 0 or survivor cards, which means it can grab signature cards. The following investigators have Item signatures and can run Salvage: Tommy, Agnes, Daniela, Patrice, Silas, Wendy. Being able to use Short Supply to dig for your signature right at the start of the round can help a lot with making something like a deck centered around Becky, Wendys Amulet or the Heirloom of Hyperborea sing.
Using Salvage for resources is also quite relevant. A deck like Tommy’s would run several weapons, with the goal of drawing maybe one or two of them over the course of the game. Having a spare .45 Auto in your discard at the start of the game means you can play Salvage for 4 resources turn 1 which is quite good. Survivor items tend to be on the cheaper side, so i see that resource mode on Salvage as mostly a thing for offclass Survivors or Survivors that lean harder into their offclass (like Patrice or William do).
In any case this is a very flexible and useful card that i am sure i will play a whole lot.